Marvel’s ‘All Hail The King’ Short Film Teases Luke Cage

Published 1 year ago
by
Rob Keyes
, Updated February 16th, 2014 at 9:39 am,

Two months ago, Marvel confirmed rumors that they were developing a set of new TV shows when they announced a partnership with Netflix for four new series and a Defenders miniseries. All of the shows – connected like the films are – feature characters and stories based in Marvel’s version of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen and as Disney CEO Bob Iger made clear, are heroes deemed not popular enough (yet) for their own films.

Daredevil, a property recently reacquired by Disney-Marvel from Twentieth Century Fox, is the first of the programs to air, scheduled to begin in 2015. Following him will be Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage – all of whom have been namedropped for potential TV and film introductions over the years. Much like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC takes place in the same Marvel Cinematic Universe as The Avengers, the question on everybody’s mind is whether or not Marvel’s 60-episode deal with Netflix has that programming also sharing the same universe.

Our best guess is yes, they absolutely will share the same space as the films. Why wouldn’t they? They’re using characters not used in the films and if they prove popular, they can make the jump back and forth with guest appearances on the big screen, even potentially joining The Avengers‘ rotating roster down the road.

Marvel is always planning ahead and they didn’t sign an exclusive deal with Netflix to give up any control of their characters. What that means is that characters like Daredevil could perhaps be introduced, teased or namedropped in Agent of SHIELD or the films before his own show even premieres. Luke Cage, for instance, may even be introduced or teased come February when Thor: The Dark World releases on home video… Wait, what?

Coming with the Blu-ray of Thor 2 is the latest Marvel One-Shot short film, All Hail The King, confirmed yesterday to center on the life of Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) in prison after the events of Iron Man 3. He’s finally got the fame he’s always wanted, even though he’s in incarceration. That prison he’s residing in, revealed in the first All Hail The King photos yesterday, happens to be the very same prison Luke Cage spent his time inside – Seagate Prison. Coincidence? Nope.

Cage (real name: Carl Lucas) was punished and sent to Seagate Prison (pictured above) for a crime he didn’t commit and to get out early, he volunteered for experimentation that dealt with keeping humans healthy and immune to sickness. In traditional comic book fashion, the procedure didn’t provide the intended results and Cage came out of it with practically invulnerable skin, enhanced strength and healing. He can still feel pain if he gets shot, but it won’t necessarily hurt his body.

Drew Pearce hinted to EW that this particular short may be setting up other things:

“I think short movies in general, whether they’re Marvel ones or not, you kind of want them to feel like they’re opening you up to a bigger world. Yeah, I definitely think there are – the non-spoiler way for me to say it — by the end of the short, there are definitely a lot of exciting other places that are brought up in it that could then go in the Marvel universe. You know, whether that’s an Iron Man movie or another one going into Phase Two or Three.”

The question now is how bold is Marvel Studios getting with their short films and would they take this opportunity to introduce an important character such as Luke Cage this long before his show airs on Netflix? The Luke Cage series doesn’t even have a date at this point, so perhaps Trevor Slattery’s time in prison is just introducing the location although we cant help but think about the possibilities.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on July 31, 2015, with unannounced films coming May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and May 5 2017.

The problem with AOS is the ABC network. Formulaic plots, family centered, light hearted Bull Sh**t. With the Netflix deal those shows will be freed from that. Also ABC sucks at marketing and branding. Hence why a lot of their shows are in the toilet ratings wise.

That’s like blaming Bill Gates personally for something that a guy in a Microsoft repair shop did in some random town no one else has ever heard of.

The fact is that the people behind the show made a mistake and hopefully, they’ve learned from it and we can all pretend that AoS never existed. I mean, Marvel Studios screwed up with that horrendous Man-Thing movies 3 years before they released the enormously successful Iron Man.

First off you obviously don’t understand TV and business side of things. Producers at certain networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, Fox have a lot more control over creative than other networks like HBO, AMC, Netflix, FX, Showtime etc. The writers have shorter deadlines, storylines are drawn out and watered down to reach wider audiences, character arcs and many aspects of a show that can be wrapped in 10 episodes are pimped out just to run for 8 months to reach the coveted 22 episode mark to eventually get syndicated

Secondly, rather than go through whole list of problems for AOS I simply stated something brief and to the point on why specifically AOS is struggling.

Lastly, of course the writers suck and in no way do they get a pass. Case and point I love Arrow It has managed to succeed despite being on the CW But do I wish Arrow was on another network heck yeah… That way Stephen Amell wouldn’t have to take off his shirt every episode just to attract teen girls for marketing or the girls on the show wouldn’t look straight out of a page of Seventeen magazine with make up on 24/7 even when they get out of bed in the morning smh

Its about time, really. And its genius. Introduce Luke Cage in a one shot, then his own Netflix series and then possibly team up with fellow heroes in a movie. Its all genius, I hope its successful. I refuse to believe Netflix will fail with their shows like ABC has with Agents of S.H.I.T

I said it before and I say again, Marvel has to produce a set of series such as Sherlock, 3 up to 5 episodes. In that way they can introduce new characters and focus on stories that are worth watching not like AoS where most episodes were redundant.

Post-script: I hope they either introduce the real Mandarin using Mr. Kingsley or kill the character once and for all. Trevor is the Jar Jar Binks of IM3.

This mockumentary idea is fricking brilliant, I hope its just the first of many. I would not mine seeing a full length villain mockumentary. I’m sure one can be done for 800K, and it could gross 70-80 mill (not sure if that is enough profit for Marvel to green light such a project since they make 500 or more per movie.)

Although all Marvel/Disney films (excluding First Avenger and Incredible Hulk) have turned out disappointing thus far (Avengers felt more like a Iron Man Sequel directed by Michael Bay), Marvel is genuinely executing the return of the REAL Mandarin from the crappy stunt they have pulled in IM3 (Most disappointing film of 2013!). Maybe they could start launching 10/20 Minute Films before a Marvel film begins to tease/introduce a Marvel character, similar as to the short animations done before a Pixar movie begins in the theatre.

I’m sorry but Fox Gave us a lumberjack love story that turned Deadpool into a mute, then in the sequel they produced ‘Ghost 2′ and I heard barely a peep out of anyone on this site, but the Mandarin twist for some odd reason that gets everyone all riled up. Out of nowhere seemingly overnight there were millions of angry Mandarin fanboys.

Earlier today, I saw a pic where Fox/Singer is turning Quicksilver into a homoerotic Andy Warhol and again barely a peep. I’ll never understand the Trevor hate.

Sorry bro, pretty sure “Marvel Studios” is as responsible for that Man-Thing movie as they are for the Amazing Spider-man 2 & X-men:DOFP.

Unless the blame is for Marvel Comics letting a TV production company borrow an idea of their’s to make a direct to TV/DVD B-horror movie?.. Not sure either party was aiming for the heavens there though…

I’d say it’s very possible there may be a namedrop of Cage in the short. If nothing else, there is the prison itself, which most likely be named in the TV show. We don’t know the showrunners of Cage unlike DD or Jessica Jones, and I don’t think an actor has been cast as Luke Cage yet. But if I were casting, I’d give Burn Notice actor Coby Bell a phone call.

Just wait, Trevor will achieve such notoriety and influence from inside the prison,that in the future he will adorn the Mandarin persona and become the super villain that everybody loves ( just not in the way like in the comics ).I think Marvel wants a more down to earth explanation for the Mandarin as just a persona that anybody with balls can earn and keep.
Also if this theory is proven to be it can keep the non-comic book fans out of confusion of the Mandarin’s Rings power and the Infinity Gems/stones power as some of Mandarin’s rings has the same power.And also for the sake of simplify the storytelling you cannot have another MacGuffin if you already had one ( Infinity Stones is the overall Macguffin of the entire MCU until phase 3,so we dont the mandarin’s ring to muddle the stories.
I think the best villain for Tony Stark is not a rich dude or a superpowered one or even a mad scientist,BUT a charismatic leader of a terror organization is far more dangerous than anyone formerly mentioned.

But turning Trevor into the Mandarin or not, I’d love for him / the persona to be the second villain next to Ultron. Maybe he could cause some sort of disruption in the robot’s programming, turn him against the Avengers and show Tony a whole new world of (personal) pain – since he’s supposed to be Ultron’s (unwilling) creator.